Tamil Nadu election alliances take shape; two 3rd fronts amid big AIADMK, DMK developments

With the race to the Assembly elections heating up in Tamil Nadu, political parties are scurrying to finalize alliances and seat-sharing talks in the midst of which there are old allies parting ways and new allies joining hands. The battle for Tamil Nadu has witnessed a change over the past few months, with the spotlight moving from being solely on the Dravidian parties AIADMK & DMK and their alliances to a emerging third-front led by Kamal Haasan's MNM that could potentially dent the two big regional powers. Elections are scheduled to be held in a single-phase in Tamil Nadu for 234 Assembly constituencies, with polling of votes on April 6 followed by counting & results on May 2. 

Alliances sealed so far

DMK-led alliance

DMK finalized the seat-sharing pact with ally Congress after multiple rounds of negotiations and allotted 25 seats along with the Lok Sabha constituency to the grand old party. DMK also inked the seat-sharing agreement with Left ally CPI(M) after multiple rounds of deliberation, as the latter demanded more seats to contest from whereas the former refused to budge. Apart from Congress and CPI(M), DMK also sealed the alliance with Viduthalai Makkal Katchi (VCK), allotting them six seats for the Assembly elections. Three seats were given by DMK to Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) while two seats were allotted to Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK). Stalin's party had also sealed the seat-sharing agreement with the Communist Party of India (CPI), giving them six seats. MDMK's chief Vaiko informed on Saturday that the DMK chief MK Stalin has signed an agreement by which 6 assembly seats have been allotted to MDMK. The Kongunaadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK) finalized the seat-sharing pact with DMK chief MK Stalin on Tuesday, agreeing to field three candidates under DMK's symbol in the upcoming elections. KMDK general secretary NR Eswaran signed the seat-sharing pact at the DMK headquarters in Chennai along with other members of both parties. 

AIADMK-led NDA alliance

AIADMK finalized its alliance with Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), allowing the latter to field candidates from 23 constituencies under the alliance. Meanwhile, AIADMK alloted 20 seats to NDA ally BJP along with the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency where the saffron party plans to field Pon Radhakrishnan. Former AIADMK ally All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi has decided to opt-out of the alliance and has joined hands with Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam. Captain' Vijaykanth's DMDK decided to pull out of the AIADMK-led NDA alliance ahead of Assembly elections in the state. DMDK's move to split with NDA comes after multiple rounds of seat-sharing talks between DMDK and AIADMK remained inconclusive. Earlier, DMDK had demanded AIADMK to allot the same number of seats given to PMK and had threatened to exit the alliance if the demand wasn't met. 

The Third Front

Emerging as a prime challenger to both AIADMK and DMK is Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) which has been purported as the third front in the upcoming Assembly elections. Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) finalized its seat-sharing pact with allies All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK) and Indhiya Janayaga Katchi (IJK) on Monday. MNM allotted 40 seats each to Sarath Kumar's AISMK and Paarivendhar's IJK while allotting itself 154 seats.

TTV Dhinakaran joins hands with Owaisi

AMMK announced an alliance with Owaisi's AIMIM for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, with Dhinakaran announcing on Monday that AIMIM will contest three seats Vaniyambadi, Krishnagiri, and Sankarapuram. TTV Dhinakaran's announcement on AMMK-AIMIM joining hands came a week after former Jayalalithaa aide VK Sasikala announced her 'retirement' from politics. While AMMK released the first list of candidates on Wednesday, TTV Dhinakaran and Owaisi are all set to address a rally at YMCA grounds in Chennai on March 12. 

What can go down today?

AIADMK, DMK to finalize constituencies for allies

NDA allies AIADMK, BJP, and PMK meet on Wednesday to discuss the constituency allocation for the upcoming Assembly polls. Meanwhile, DMK - which has allotted 60 seats to its allies - will hold the final round of talks with its allies at 12 pm on Wednesday. 

DMDK's fortunes 

'Captain' Vijaykanth's DMDK was reportedly invited to join the third front comprising of MNM, AISMK, IJK after its exit from NDA. It would be interesting to see if DMDK grabs to offer as it is too late for Vijaykanth's party to side with DMK now while the return to AIADMK looks impossible after the war of words between leaders of the two parties. 

Tamil Nadu Assembly polls

The TN elections will be held on April 6 and the result will be declared on May 2. The two warring factions in AIADMK - of Deputy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) and CM E Palaniswamy (EPS), reconciled after the party named incumbent E Palaniswamy as its CM candidate and O Panneerselvam as the chief of the 11-member steering committee. He has also announced a slew of social measures like Pongal gift hampers, farm loan waiver, free COVID-19 vaccines, passing school students, etc which has been slammed by DMK M K Stalin calling it 'pre-poll appeasement'.  Meanwhile, ex-CM Karunanidhi's successor - DMK chief MK Stalin eyes his maiden CM term as DMK cannot afford to lose a third straight Assembly election after sweeping the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with 38 seats.